Prior art litters, also referred to as stretchers, are intended to facilitate the carrying of a passenger, such as an injured person, by one or more other people. Litters are in common use in mass trauma areas such as battlefields to facilitate carrying wounded soldiers to safer locations, or to carry a person who has been injured in a car accident, or to carry a person who has been injured in a hiking accident to a safer location. Such litters generally have a base platform comprised of a flexible material such as canvas, and are long enough and wide enough to secure a person thereto. They also generally have handles or some other feature to facilitate carrying by a group of people.
Prior art litters may also be designed to be rigid and durable. However, rigid construction often requires use of bulky and heavy materials, which can be difficult to carry or transport due to their weight and/or relative inflexibility. Thus, it is often desirable, and attempts have been made, to provide a litter that is collapsible and lighter than traditional litters, and thus easier to carry or transport.
Prior art collapsible litters, however, often have other problems. For example, prior art collapsible litters may be complex, having many parts that are not easily assembled in the field. Such complex litters may cause problems in use because of the time required to assemble the litter and the potential for losing or misplacing parts. Obviously, in battlefield operations every second is critical. Other prior art litters may be less complex and yet lightweight, however, they lack the support and/or rigidity necessary to adequately support a passenger, which is especially problematic if the passenger is injured or unconscious.
Accordingly, based on the foregoing it is readily seen that there is a significant need in the art for a collapsible yet rigid litter for supporting a person, such as a soldier, that is also lightweight and easy to carry that overcomes the problems abundantly apparent in the prior art.